


endings are just a fresh start

by goblinkore



Category: Hello From The Hallowoods (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:48:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goblinkore/pseuds/goblinkore
Summary: Riot has a breakdown while cutting her hair, Violet is there to help.“What if the endings are just a fresh start? Maybe it just depends on the way you look at it.” - Ivy Oakes, What if Stars Don't Die
Kudos: 2





	endings are just a fresh start

Riot brushed a hand through her hair, no longer the prickly shortness she was used to. Instead, there was the unfamiliar feeling of soft strands against her fingers. She remembered reading somewhere that the human fingers were so sensitive they could tell the difference between something the size of a car and a house if the pad of the fingertips were the size of the world, she hadn’t believed it at the time, but now it felt real. She could feel every tiny molecule of growth since she had sat nestled between her girlfriend’s knees as she had shorn Riot’s hair down. 

She looked at herself in the mirror that was balanced against the rickety wall of her room; a young woman stared back at her, aged beyond her years. She had her arm held at an awkward angle at her side, another injury to add to her collection since childhood. It was mostly healed now, and the food at the Scoutpost was helping her gain back some of the weight she’d lost. She no longer had the beginnings of hollows under her cheekbones, but the bags under her eyes weren’t getting much better. 

“You can do this.” She muttered to the room around her, “You can do this for her.” 

She held, in her good hand, a pair of scissors that she’d managed to find stored in one of the many toolboxes left around the Scoutpost’s collections of buildings. She didn’t want to steal them, but lying awake at night and running her fingers through her hair had turned her stomach and left her bleary-eyed and sick to her stomach when she woke up the next morning. Walt had noticed the bags under her eyes growing; he’d been giving her those looks, the ones that meant that he wasn’t asking her about it on purpose. 

Her previously injured arm wasn’t still painful normally, nothing like that, it just hurt to hold it at certain angles for too long and this was going to be a difficult thing to do alone. It would involve a lot of twisting and turning. She pulled what had now become a fringe down and measured it with her fingers to where she wanted it to be. With a shaking hand, she lined up the scissors and snipped away at the hair. 

It plummeted to the floor, nothing as cathartic as movies and tv shows had told Riot it would be. Her hair didn’t float to the floor, taking her grief with it, instead, it plunged straight down and stayed there. She lined up another bunch and tore through it with the scissors, letting herself release the tension that had been building in her over the last few weeks. 

There was a gentle knock at her door. 

She froze. Scissors in hand, hair dusting the floor. 

“Riot?” The door was pushed open gently as Violet peered around it. 

She took a second to look over the young woman stood in front of her. Riot felt herself shake in her own skin as the older woman approached her. 

“Hey, hey now...” Violet reached out to her and as her hand was placed gently on Riot’s arm, the younger woman felt herself come undone. 

Violet pulled Riot close, wrapping her arms around the shoulders of the younger woman and feeling her body heave as she unleashed the deep sobs that she’d been pushing down for a long time. Riot dropped the scissors from her hand and they clattered to the floor, the noise reverberating loudly inside of her own head as she griped Violet close. 

"She's gone." Riot panted through her sobs, "Mum's gone because of me, and now Clara too." 

"Shh," Violet stroked Riot's back, squeezing her gently. "You don't know that, and your mum wasn't your fault." 

Riot pulled back, her eyes overflowing with thick tears. "Of course it was! I left the bunker! I let them know where she was!" 

Violet shook her head, "No, if they have her it's because they knew where she was already." 

"I ran away!" Riot exclaimed, frustration boiling inside of her now, "I left her alone!" 

Violet sighed, "I don't believe that this was your fault, and I know your mother wouldn't either." She bent over and picked up the scissors from the floor, "Your mother is only going to be worried about you, she'll want you to be safe more than anything else." 

"I'm _alone_ now!" Riot shouted, feeling the rage inside of her ignite. She was hurt and sad and so incredibly angry, she’d never felt this way before. Her mother was gone, disappeared by  BotCo , and now Clara was gone too, and there was nowhere safe for her either. The  Hallowoods were deep and dark and full of monsters, and the Instrumentalist was just one of many. 

"I guess we're all fish then?" Violet smiled with a quirked eyebrow, leaving Riot feeling immediately foolish. 

"I didn't mean that." She looked down at her feet, "I just... My life has fallen apart and now... I only have people from after it's fallen apart." 

Violet sat on the edge of Riot's bed and patted the covers next to her. "I know what it's like to have to rebuild everything from the ground up." Her voice was soft, "I know how much it hurts." 

Riot sat next to her, rubbing her eyes with the pads of her thumbs. She growled in the back of her throat in frustration. "How did you cope with it?" 

"I had Bern, and we found everyone else here." Violet turned the scissors over in her hands, "It took a long time and a lot of sleepless nights." 

"What do I do?" Riot's voice was small, she was just a child after all. "I'm alone, I don't have a Bern in my life... Clara's missing and I-" Another sob cut her off. 

Violet took a deep breath and turned to the younger woman, "I think we need to take this a day at a time." She reached out and pulled Violet close, planting a kiss on top of her head, "We can start with getting your hair done properly." 

Riot laughed, the noise bubbling out of her in surprise. "Really?" 

Violet nodded and gave Riot's shoulder a rub, "When you feel bad, it's good to look your best." 

The pair sat in silence for a moment as Riot wiped her eyes. The young woman took a deep breath, heaving it into her lungs and sitting upright. "Okay, let's go cut my hair." 

"That's my girl." Violet grinned, "How short do you want it?"


End file.
